Useful tips for the Cambridge PET and FIRST Speaking papers

It doesn't matter whether you are teenager or an adult, speaking exams scare you, don't they? I came up with these two graphics to help my students and you face this overwhelming fear.
Dos & Don'ts and useful tips about the functional language to use in the different parts of the paper will support you to get trough the speaking exam.

 You can download the pictures and print them out!

7 ways to use INFOGRAPHICS in the English classroom

This is my first post of 2014 and I'd like to kick off the new year by writing about the latest popular phenomenon on the web: INFOGRAPHICS.

What is an infographic?
An Infographic (information graphic)  is a visual representation of a data set or instructive material. It takes a large amount of information in text or numerical form and then condenses it into a combination of images and text, allowing viewers to quickly grasp the essential insights the data contains.

Can infographics be used in the English classroom?
Yes, of course. These are 7 ways to use INFOGRAPHICS in the English classroom.

1. TO TEACH (OR REVIEW) NUMBERS - Let's face the truth: students do not like numbers. Maybe because it's the first thing they learn when they study a foreign language, (sometimes even before the alphabet). In infographics you can find very long numbers and your students can practice their pronunciation.
Tip: When a student does not know (or does not remember) the pronunciation of a number I usually ask to the class randomly until someone pronounces it correctly. Afterwards we drill it chorally.

2. TO TEACH NEW VOCABULARY - Each infographic is an incredible source of new vocabulary. You can find infographics about music, religion, education, cinema, jobs, social networks etc. Here you are some examples from the free newspaper Metro.uk (e-edition).

3. TO MAKE PREDICTIONS  - In my humble opinion this is the funniest way you can use infographics for. I usually copy only some numbers and the topic on the board and let my students guess what those numbers are related to. My students usually come up with many "contrasting" ideas which lead to li(o)vely debates.
Tip: Students'minds may go blank when they see all those numbers, give examples/ideas.

4. TO RETRIEVE INFORMATION - This activity usually comes after making predictions. Students have to check whether their suppositions were true or false by reading the infographic.
Tip: For lower levels you can simply prepare a set of questions and ask your students to answer them.

5. TO PRACTICE BUSINESS PRESENTATIONS - I'm sure that among your students there is a business person always in troubles with their presentations at the workplace. Well, infographics can be used as PPT slides while the students rehearse for their speech.
Tip: Keep the infographics on the PC and let your students use a pencil while they are talking, it will make them feel more confident.

6. TO ELABORATE - We always ask our students to sum up texts. Why don't we try to do the opposite? Why don't we ask them to elaborate short pieces of information into something detailed? Give your students an infographic and ask them to write an article starting from the information they have. It is an excellent exercise to practice their writing skills.

7. TO COLLECT USEFUL INFORMATION - We can use infographics but we can also create them! http://www.easel.ly and http://infogr.am are two free websites your students can use to make their own infographics. My students and I usually create them at the of the year to review what we have studied or to concentrate useful information for the exams. Eventually, we print the infographics out and stick them on the walls.

Do you use infographics in your English classes? How? Please, share your experience with me!

Christmas Crackers: Useful Links

Christmas is one of the most popular and celebrated holidays all over the world. I do love having  lessons about Christmas with my students to show them the traditions of the country(ies) whose language they are studying.

This year I taught my young teenagers the story of the Christmas Cracker and we even made our own Christmas Crackers! 

I'd like to share with you the online resources I used in my class.

1) The story of the Christmas Cracker

http://didyouknow.org/christmas/crackers/

TIP: pre-teach vocabulary and prepare questions for reading comprehension.

2) Make your own Christmas Crackers

2a Watch the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi3KRrMlof8 

TIP: don't forget to get everything you need ready in your classroom. 

As you could see in the video, inside the Christmas Cracker there are a small present (such as a chocolate), a joke and a paper hat/crown. 

2b You can copy your joke from this 50 Christmas cracker joke list:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/christmas/10523013/50-Best-Christmas-cracker-jokes-ever.html

2c You can see how to make your own paper hat/crown in this video (always from TESCO Life Style)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqfyajji7A8

I hope you will enjoy making your own Christmas Crackers with your students. 

Metro UK: Get the best out of a free newspaper

Are you one of those teachers who:

1) is teaching in a non-English-speaking country?
2) is looking for new ideas to create or adapt authentic materials?
3)  is fed up with course books?
4) is training their students for a Cambridge exam?

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, keep on reading this post!

When I lived in London I used to take the tube almost everyday. Before getting on the train I used to grab a copy of a free paper: METRO. I flicked through it during my journey, reading some headlines here and there. When I was about to come back to Italy I decided to pack some copies up. When I was here I realized I could use it to create or adapt materials even to train my students in several parts of some Cambridge Examinations. Plus, checking on the internet I found out its PDF edition so my materials are always brand new and up-to-date!

I collected here some ways to use METRO UK in your classes:

1. To teach vocabulary - There are lots of colorful picture. 

2. To warm up - If you want to introduce the topic of the lesson in a fun way you can use its comic strips. Find out more in this previous post:
http://larissaslanguages.blogspot.it/2013/06/comic-strips-to-warm-up.html


3. To have a debate or a conversation class - Intermediate and upper-intermediate students sometimes are stuck with the same vocabulary. Pre-teaching new vocabulary, reading a newspaper article, having a talk are three easy steps which will make your students more interested in your lesson. Don't forget: feel free to adapt the text in order to meet your students' needs and levels.


4. KET: speaking test - In the second part of the speaking test there are two candidates. The examiner gives them a sheet with a picture and some information. Candidates ask and answer questions in turns about the information on the sheet. Questions are usually introduced by questions words such as who, when, which, what, where, etc. For this part of the test you can use the ads.

Possible questions:

a. Where do you get 25% off?
b. What time do the stores close?
c. How much do you have to spend to get free delivery?




Possible questions:
a. What is Jamie magazine about?
b. What can I do to get a free copy?
c. Who writes in this magazine?

5. FCE: Writing test - One of the genres of the writing test is the report. It is the most formal piece of writing because it is full of data and impersonal expressions. How can your students get data to build up their report? Use the infographics from the section IN FOCUS. Here you an example about the graduate and non-graduate jobs in the UK currently.



I hope that these prompts will be useful for you and if you have any other ideas, please share them with me!
(All the pictures are screenshots of the PDF edition)

Do you want to learn? Teach!

Yesterday during my break between two classes I was checking my Facebook when I ran into this picture:

The more you teach the more you learn! So I thought it would be a great idea to make my teen students be teachers for a lesson!

I knew it was an experiment and it could have been either a success or a flop but I decided to try. 

I wondered what role the teacher played in this context and what materials students could use in order to teach. Thus, I put together two different teaching methods:

1) Silent way teaching

The Silent way is a teaching method developed by Caleb Gattegno in 1960s based on the belief that students should learn independently of the teacher. Gattegno proposed that students would learn better if they worked together and they were more responsible for their own learning. Students are introduced to new materials by using Cuisinare rods and a series of wall charts.

2) Realia
All your possessions (and your students') can be used in your class to bring it to life.

MY EXPERIENCE
New Language: COUNTABLE & UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
Level: ELEMENTARY

1. I drew two columns on the board and I wrote COUNTABLE NOUNS & UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS.
2. I didn't use Cuisinare rods but real things. I showed my students two apples, two cups of tea and two tea bags. I wrote under the UNCOUNTABLE COLUMN:
A cup of TEA
Two cups of TEA
A TEA bag
Two TEA bags
And under the COUNTABLE COLUMNS: 
An APPLE
Two APPLES

Notice: We are considering the words TEA (uncountable) and APPLES (countable) not cups or bags.

I underlined the s of the plural and I made them notice there was no S in the word tea.


2. I asked my students to come to the board in turn. I gave them the cups of tea, the tea bags the apples and other food and drink. Then I mimed an interrogative expression to make them explain the difference between countable and uncountable nouns. Good explanations were given the thumbs up.


--> NOTICE <--
- The Silent Way has some drawbacks. You have to be really good at miming. Plus, some students may need more teacher input than what is provided through this method. Thus, the student-teaching part of the lesson should last not more than 30 minutes.

- Get real object ready in your classroom or use pictures/flashcards.

SUPER HEROES: a good input to teach CAN (abilities)

It is summer students are fed up with studying so to teach them CAN (abilities) I decided to use SUPER HEROES. I'd like to share my lesson plan with you

STUDENTS: PRE-TEENS
GRAMMAR: CAN (ABILITIES)


1) I started with this picture and a poll: WHICH IS YOUR FAVOURITE SUPERHERO?

2) After the poll I showed them the trailer of SUPERMAN MAN OF STEEL to get them involved in the topic of super powers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dwYatpwrs8s

3) TRUE OR FALSE?
After watching the video students worked in pairs in order to say whether the utterances on the post-it (on the wall of the classroom) were true or false.
Their level is A1 so the utterances were easy.
Here some examples:

- SUPERMAN IS ARRESTED BY THE POLICE.
- WHEN THE SPACESHIP LANDS NEAR THE HOUSE THE WOMAN IS HAPPY.
- SUPERMAN KISSES A GIRL

4) While the students were working on their own I wrote some utterances on the whiteboard.(You can find here some of them)
__________________  CAN ____FLY.
___________________CAN____ CLIMB.
___________________CAN ____MOVE VERY FAST.
___________________CAN_____DO MARTIAL ARTS.

5) Students were supposed to fill the first gap with the name of a SUPER HERO. I left a second gap if the students made a mistake. For example, they wrote BATMAN CAN ___ FLY. I didn't want to tell them they were wrong so I invited them to ask directly Batman whether he could fly.
STUDENT: BATMAN, CAN YOU FLY?
ME: NO, I CAN'T
So we added NOT to CAN. In this way students don't feel like they are wrong. Plus they learn NEGATIVE, SHORT FORMS AND QUESTIONS.

6) Then I asked students to draw their own SUPER HERO and write what they were their super powers.

7) Students finally worked in pairs to ASK AND ASWERS about their partner super powers.
For example:
A: WHAT'S YOUR SUPER HERO'S NAME?
B: UMBRELLA WOMAN.
A: CAN UMBRELLA WOMAN FLY?
B: NO, SHE CAN'T.
A: CAN UMBRELLA WOMAN RESIST THE RAIN?
B: YES, SHE CAN

8) At the end we put all the new super heros on the wall of the classroom.

I hope you can enjoy it!

Reading comprehension: tips for students

Most of my students who are about to take TERZA MEDIA exams think READING COMPREHENSION is the easiest type of exam but when they take it they make a lot of mistakes.
Let's see some tips that will help them do it right.

1. SKIMMING AND SCANNING
- The first time you read try to get the main meaning, the gist (SKIMMING).
- Then read the questions.
- Read again the text, this time more carefully, and focus on each paragraph (SCANNING).
- Now underline the parts you think are connected to the questions.

2. ANSWER

A. GRAMMAR and SYNTAXIS
Use the SVOMPT order.

B. VOCABULARY
I am sure there are words you don't know but you can use your dictionary. Sometimes using the bilingual dictionary can make things more difficult. So use logic.
For example you find the word MAILBOX. This is a compound word so divide it in two parts MAIL and BOX. Of course you know their individual meaning(mail=letter, box=container), put them together and you will have the meaning of MAILBOX=container of letters= CASSETTA POSTALE.

Learn it! Do it!
HARRY POTTER - THE WORLD'S BEST SELLING BOOKS
I hope these tips will be useful! Let me know about your exams!

6 free websites to "keep your English fit" during the summer break

Hi there!
Most of you have stopped your English classes for the summer break but you are afraid of forgetting what you have learnt so far. Don't worry!
I chose 6 free websites that can be used by all type of students (from elementary to advanced). If you want to "keep your English fit" during the summer break, have  a look at this post!

KNOWBLE (you must sign up)
Improve your English reading comprehension and vocabulary.










VOSCREEN (you might sign up)
Improve your English listening comprehension by using films and your own language.







RECORD YOUR VOICE 
Record your voice so you can compare your pronunciation and intonation to those of mother tongue people.

 

ENGLISH CENTRAL
Improve your English listening and speaking skills with movie scenes. First listen to the actors and then repeat.



BBC LEARNING ENGLISH
Click on 6 MINUTE ENGLISH and you can improve your English listening and reading skills as long  as your vocabulary. You can download both podcasts and scripts so you can listen and read wherever and whenever you want.








CONVERSATION EXCHANGE (you must sign up)
Improve your writing and speaking skills by finding a penfriend!

it's HALLOWEEN time

Here we are it's Halloween again!

You are an English teacher and you do not know how to celebrate this festival with your students, well don't worry we'll help you... LOOK BELOW ;-)

- KIDS (7-10 YEARS)
from our PLAY ENGLISH course
CRAFTWORK: TRICK OR TREAT BUCKET

you need:
- a paper cup
- a black marker
- orange acrylic colour
- some white carton paper
- staples
- candies














- PRE-TEENS (11-13 YEARS)
READ THE FOLLOWING TEXT

Halloween is celebrated on October the 31st every year. It
originated from a pagan holiday and the Christian holiday of All
Saints’ Day. The name Halloween is a shortened version of All
Hallows’ Eve. Today, it is more of a fun day for children and has
largely lost its religious roots. Halloween is probably most famous in
the U.S.A. Irish immigrants took it to America in the mid-1600s and
it slowly spread across the country. Halloween is not celebrated in
many countries around the world although many people know about
it. Some Christians are not so happy that people celebrate
Halloween. They believe the holiday is un-Christian because of its
origin as a pagan "festival of the dead."
Halloween has many easily identifiable symbols. The colours orange
and black are widely used. In particular, orange pumpkins and fires
and black witches, cats and costumes are common features of this
day. One of the biggest Halloween activities is trick-or-treating. This
is when children knock on doors and ask for a small gift. If they
don’t get anything, they’ll play a trick on the person who opens the
door. Food also  plays a big part of Halloween. Toffee apples are
very popular and so is anything made from pumpkin. Halloween is
also a popular topic for Hollywood. Many horror movies have been
made about it. Because of this, Halloween is now known in many
countries that never actually celebrate it.


Answer the following questions:
1) What is the origin of the word Halloween?
2) Who brought Halloween tradition to the USA?
3) What is trick-or-treating?
4) What is the most popular food at Halloween?
5) Is Halloween celebrated in your country? How?


- TEENS (14-18 YEARS)
Watch the video and answe the following questions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=R-VRAemIvbI

1) What was All Saints originally called?
2) What is the custom of playing pranks at Halloween called?
3) Who were the first people to celebrate Halloween?
4) Who introduced the holiday to the USA?
5) When is All Saints day celebrated?

TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR ITALIAN: Some gestures

WE ALL KNOW ITALIANS TALK WITH THEIR HANDS, SO HERE YOU WILL A FIND A SELECTION OF ITALIAN GESTURES WITH THEIR ENGLISH TRANSLATION. ENJOY IT!

Che puzza!

English translation: What a smell!

Scongiuro.

English translation: Gesturer wants to ward off bad luck.

Un momento!

English translation: One moment please! or May I speak?

Mah!

English translation: Perplexed. Gesturer is undecided.

Ho fame.

English translation: I'm hungry.

Ehi tu, vieni qui! (Ascolta!)

English translation: Hey! Come here, you! (Listen!)

Come?

English translation: What?

Silenzio.

English translation: Silence (keep quiet).

Che peso! (Mi sta qua!)

English translation: I cannot stand this situation/person/thing any longer.

Che sbadato!

English translation: How could I have forgotten?!

Idea!

English translation: I've got an idea!

Perfetto.

English translation: Perfect.

Mettersi il paraocchi.

English translation: To put on blinders. (just to see things one way)

È un po' toccato.

English translation: He's a little crazy.

Giuro.

English translation: I swear it.

Fumare.

English translation: Got a smoke?

Me ne frego.

English translation: I don't give a damn.

OK!

English translation: OK!

Perché imparare l'inglese? Perché hai paura di farlo?

L'anno scorso ho pubblicato questo post molto divertente copiato dal giornalista Beppe Severgnini in cui dava ben 31 motivi per imparare la lingua inglese
http://larissaslanguages.blogspot.it/2011/09/31-motivi-per-studiare-la-lingua.html

Oggi ne pubblico un altro, diviso in 5 punti.

1) "Superare le barriere linguistiche
Anche se sono molte le persone che viaggiano in giro per il mondo senza parlare nessuna lingua straniera, queste esperienze risultano essere ampiamente limitate dall'incapacità di poter comunicare con la gente del posto e con gli altri turisti. Questa barriera linguistica viene in molti casi superata grazie alla lingua inglese che è anche diventata lingua del turismo e che permette di affrontare molte situazioni come ad esempio chiedere e capire informazioni o trovare un alloggio ma che anche aiuta a vivere un esperienza più costruttiva.

2) Migliorare il proprio futuro
Qualunque siano gli obiettivi per la tua carriera, conoscere la lingua inglese aumenterà le tue possibilità di successo. Sono diversi i vantaggi che potrebbero derivare dalla conoscenza della lingua inglese tra cui :

• Migliorare il proprio CV e quindi aumentare le possibilità di ottenere un lavoro ma anche di guadagnare più soldi.
• Diventare un uomo/donna d'affari considerando che l'economia internazionale è basata sulla lingua inglese.
• Diventare esperti del proprio settore involve anche avere contatti con esperti che vivono in altre nazioni, prendere parte a congressi internazionali e visitare centri accademici all'estero.

3) Meno difficile di quanto molti pensano
Oltre ad essere una lingua la cui conoscenza presenta indubbi vantaggi, l'inglese è anche una delle lingue più facili da imparare e da usare. Di seguito alcuni esempi come prova :

• Il plurale di una parola si forma aggiungendo una s alla stessa e pochissime sono le eccezioni.
• Coniugare i verbi in inglese non è difficile e i verbi irregolari non sono molti.
• Ci si riferisce a tutte le persone dando loro del tu.
• L'inglese è dappertutto : musica, film in lingua originale, siti web, giornali, e quindi si può imparare anche senza ricorrere ai libri di testo.

4) Aprire le porte della conoscenza
L'inglese specialmente negli ultimi anni ha avuto il felice compito di facilitare l'accesso alla conoscenza. Senza ombra di dubbio Internet ci permette un facile e veloce accesso alle informazioni ad un costo molto basso e conoscere l'inglese rappresenta un'opportunità senza limiti. Infatti sono oltre un miliardo le pagine che contengono informazioni di ogni genere in lingua inglese. Ma internet non è l'unico esempio, se consideriamo per esempio il campo delle scienze la maggior parte degli articoli e pubblicazioni sono in lingua inglese.

5) Una scelta che ti gratificherà 

Imparare l'inglese, ma anche ogni altra lingua in generale, non è soltanto utile ma è anche gratificante ed è motivo di grande soddisfazione. Non nascondendo tutte le difficoltà legate all'apprendimento di una nuova lingua, fare progressi e scoprire di essere in grado di parlare con le persone o di capire la TV è una sensazione che ripaga alla grande. Queste sono le sensazioni che ti aiuteranno a non sentirti mai appagato ma invece ti stimoleranno a raggiungere un livello sempre più elevato.

(http://www.londraviaggi.it/5_buone_ragioni_per_imparare_inglese.php)

Ed ora la mia domanda, rivolta a tutti voi, cos'è che vi frena dall'apprendimento della lingua inglese? Quali sono le vostre paure? Quali sono le vostre difficoltà e punti deboli?

Sono curiosa di sapere le vostre risposte e sarei lieta se riuscissi a darvi dei buoni consigli!